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And what? And we broke up for some reason that’s still sort of murky in my head?
Hot Henry didn’t ask about that, and why would he care?
My throat suddenly closes up, and he frowns a little harder, his gaze darting from me to the hut and back again. Then his whole demeanor softens, the frown smoothing out and a gentle look coming over his face that, for some reason, makes it feel like I’m going to lose the battle and start to cry after all.
“I can appreciate that the two of you wanted to be alone, but we need to get Yasmin and get back to the shore now,” he says, gesturing behind him. “The wind is picking up and the tide is coming in fast, and soon, this whole jetty will be underwater.”
For a second, his words don’t register. Then they do—I mean, crap, I just saw the water lapping at his fancy shoes when before, on my way out to the hut, the waterline had still been below the wooden walkway—and panic rises up inside me so quickly that I can’t breathe.
I glance around frantically, and there’s nothing around me at all but water, water in all directions, dark and bottomless and actually, literally rising up to surround me. To drown me.
I was wrong about it lapping at his shoes. The wind he just mentioned is starting to kick it into angry crests that break over the edge of the wooden walkway we’re on, splashing up from between the slats.
My chest suddenly feels too tight, the ocean around us too vast and yet too small at the same time, and when Henry says something else, I can’t hear it over the pounding of my frantic heartbeat in my ears.
“Oh my God,” I try to say, but no words come out. Or maybe they do, I’m not sure anymore.
Henry reaches out to steady me, but I barely register the feel of his big hand on my arm.
This is… it’s bad. I can’t breathe, like really can’t breathe, and my feet suddenly weigh a million pounds, rooting me to this spot with no chance of moving even though the shore can’t be that far away, right?
But there’s still Yasmin. She’s behind us. She’s all alone in the middle of the ocean, and we’re all going to be underwater in a few minutes. Henry just said so.
“Cade.”
He’s got a firm grip on my arm, and I clutch at both of his, digging my fingers into his firm biceps as I try to force the panic down so I can focus on saving her.
“We have to get Yaz.” My voice is a thready whisper that literally hurts as I force it out, the muscles of my throat seizing up with terror. “We have to… we have to get to her, before it’s… before the water… before…”
I’m either hyperventilating or can’t breathe at all, I’m not sure which but it’s definitely not working.
“Cade,” Henry repeats more sharply as my vision starts to narrow.
I shake my head. I know I can’t give in to the panic that’s trying to rise up and choke me. I can’t. I need to get to Yaz. Being stranded in the middle of a literal ocean of water might be literally my worst nightmare, but I can’t let my own fears stop me from getting to her.
I try to turn back toward the hut, but my legs feel like lead and my head is pounding and I think… I think my heart is actually giving out. Literally giving out. I think—
But I can’t think.
I know Henry is still trying to say something to me, but I can’t make sense of that either.
I can’t do anything. It’s too late. The panic attack has already sunk its claws into me, and now it’s trying to pull me down and drown me just like the ocean will… and it’s only the tight grip Henry has on me as he holds me against his firm chest, giving me one solid thing in an endless sea of darkness to anchor myself to, that keeps me from going under completely.
Chapter 5
Yasmin
* * *
The ocean is churning, breaking in white caps over the floor of the little hut as the tide starts to come in. Out there, under the moonlight, it’s serene and calm as far as the eye can see, but here, around my feet, it’s becoming a writhing tangle of crashing waves.
Probably some sort of metaphor for our relationship.
I can hear someone shouting, far off behind me, but I ignore it, numb inside from the truths that just tumbled out of my mouth and hurt the man I love.
No, I’m not numb. I wish I was. Instead, I feel… lost. Hurt.
We’re in a beautiful resort to celebrate love and commitment with a man I honestly thought I’d be with forever, and instead I’m here, on my own, with my heart breaking.
